Legal

By accessing this website www.parklaneplowden.co.uk ("Site") or downloading materials from the Site, you agree to abide by these terms (as amended from time to time) set out below.

Where you are using the Site in the course of your business, you agree to these terms on behalf of that business. If you do not agree with the terms (or are not authorised to do so) you should not access this Site.

(i) Chambers

This web site is produced by Parklane Plowden Chambers, a set of barristers' chambers. Chambers has no collective legal identity of any kind; all barristers practising from a set of chambers are self-employed individuals. By agreement of the barristers in these Chambers, this web site has been prepared for information purposes only. Any views expressed, or comments made on the law in an article, commentary or note on this web site are not necessarily the opinions of any member of Chambers other than the author.

(ii) Cookies Policy

Cookies we use

We anonymously keep a track of what pages and links are popular, and identify trends of how people navigate our site in order to help us keep our site useful and up to date.

We use a group of cookies called 'analytics cookies' to gather this information. The information gathered is anonymous and grouped together to show trends rather than one individual's activity. Our analytics cookies only record activity on this site and are only used to improve how this website works.

Disabling Cookies

If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can modify the settings within your web browser to decline new cookies and remove existing ones.

For more information about how to do this within your browser, please use the Help function within your browser. Alternatively you can visit www.aboutcookies.org which contains comprehensive information about cookies and how to control them on your computer. Disabling cookies may affect your browsing experience, although should not affect the use of this Site.

(iii) Disclaimer

The information and any commentary on the law contained on this web site is provided free of charge for information purpose only. Every reasonable effort is made to make the information and commentary accurate and up to date, but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by any member of Chambers. The information and commentary does not, and is not intended to, amount to legal advice to any person on a specific case or matter. You are strongly advised to obtain specific, personal advice from a lawyer about your case or matter and not to rely on the information or comments on this site.

(iv) E-mail Policy

E-mails sent to members at Parklane Plowden are viewable by the Clerking team.

(v) Legal Advice

Members of Chambers, as individual lawyers, may only give advice to a particular person on a specific matter or case if instructed to do so by one of the following: a solicitor, a qualified foreign lawyer or a member of a recognised professional body approved by the Bar Council for the purpose of direct professional access work, or a BarDIRECT client.

(vi) Conflict Policy and Chinese Walls

Parklane Plowden barristers are in high demand and are specifically sought out by clients for particular cases. As a result, different barristers in chambers are often instructed, as individuals, on both sides of a case. In addition to this members have been instructed as arbitrators, with other members of chambers as instructed Counsel. This is commonplace in all chambers with specialist counsel and we have strict practices and procedures in place to help prevent members from being in breach of ‘confidentiality’ governed by paragraph 603 of the Bar Code of Conduct.

The Cab Rank Rule

As barristers are self-employed professionals, chambers does not operate as a partnership or firm (unlike solicitors). There is often healthy competition within chambers and instructions are disseminated subject to the "cab-rank" rule.

Conflict Policy

There are however cases where barristers may not accept a brief or instructions for reasons of professional embarrassment such as a conflict of interest. This is governed by paragraph 501 of the Code of Conduct. The clerks are responsible for determining whether there is a conflict of interest from the outset and processes are in place to run conflict checks before a brief or set of instructions are accepted and passed to counsel.

Chinese Walls

Clerks are naturally privy to sensitive information and in cases where members are instructed on both sides, information barriers are in place to avoid a conflict of interest or leak of confidential information. These barriers are referred to as "Chinese Walls". Once these walls are in place the clerks ensure the following:

Separate clerks are allocated to either side

Solicitors are informed of the situation so that they only speak to the relevant clerk

The barristers concerned are informed of the others involvement

The clerks consider whether any variation of normal procedure is required

Sensitive documents are only dealt with by the relevant clerk

Confidentiality

Due to the nature of the work undertaken in chambers we ensure that all information is kept securely. This involves the use of secure shredding services and IT systems as well as methods of working in chambers.

By accessing this website www.parklaneplowden.co.uk ("Site") or downloading materials from the Site, you agree to abide by these terms (as amended from time to time) set out here. Where you are using the Site in the course of your business, you agree to these terms on behalf of that business. If you do not agree with the terms (or are not authorised to do so) you should not access this Site.